Handheld photo enforcement systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A citation system may receive data, including an image, from a handheld photo enforcement unit and issue a citation based on the image with minimal officer input. The citation system manipulates photos to identify license plate numbers involved in an event. The citation system requests identification from a driver database, issues a citation, and forwards the citation according to information from the driver database.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to traffic citation systems.Specifically, the present disclosure relates to traffic citationssystems that interface with handheld photo enforcement units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The written disclosure herein describes illustrative embodiments thatare non-limiting and non-exhaustive. Reference is made to certain ofsuch illustrative embodiments that are depicted in the figures describedbelow.

FIG. 1 illustrates a handheld photo enforcement unit, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for processing a citation using acitation system, according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for processing a citation using acitation system, according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method for processing a citation using acitation system, according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 Illustrates a block diagram of a citation system, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processing circuit of a handheld photoenforcement unit, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a processing circuit of an image processingserver, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure describes systems and methods for issuing citations. Acitation system may receive data, including an image, from a handheldphoto enforcement unit and issue a citation based on the image withminimal officer input. A handheld photo enforcement unit may includeradar, light imaging detection and ranging (LIDAR), or another speedtracking device in combination with an image capture system. An officeror other user may use the handheld photo enforcement unit to capture aspeed as well as an image of the vehicle. In some embodiments, thehandheld photo enforcement unit may also measure the distance betweentwo vehicles and the citation system may issue a tailgating violation.In some embodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit may also beused to enforce a seatbelt or cell phone violations.

The handheld photo enforcement unit may communicate with the citationsystem via a network. For instance, the citation system may receive datafrom the handheld photo enforcement unit to identify a vehicle and atraffic event. For example, the data may include vehicle speed, an imagecapture, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, video, a timestamp, and officer information. The citation system may provide thehandheld photo enforcement unit with feedback based on the receiveddata. For example, if the citation system fails to read a license platebased on the data provided, the citation system may request that anofficer manually review the photo via the handheld photo enforcementunit. In some embodiments, the citation system may provide the feedbackto another device such as a laptop, a cell phone, or another personalelectronic device (PED). An officer may respond to the feedback from thecitation system via the handheld photo enforcement unit or PED.

The citation system may also communicate with other systems anddatabases via a network. For example, the citation system may send andreceive data to/from a DMV database. Similarly, in some embodiments,processor intensive tasks, such as image processing, may be handled by aremote server in communication with the citation system.

As used herein, the phrases “coupled to,” “communicatively coupled to,”and “in communication with” are broad enough to refer to any suitablecoupling or other form of interaction between two or more components,including electrical, mechanical, fluid, and thermal interaction. Twocomponents may be coupled to each other even though there may beintermediary devices between the two components.

Some of the infrastructure that can be used with embodiments disclosedherein is already available, such as: general-purpose computers,computer programming tools and techniques, digital storage media, andcommunications networks. A computer may include a processor, such as amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, logic circuitry, or the like. Theprocessor may include a special-purpose processing device, such as anASIC, a PAL, a PLA, a PLD, an FPGA, or another customized orprogrammable device. The computer may also include a computer-readablestorage device, such as non-volatile memory, static RAM, dynamic RAM,ROM, CD-ROM, disk, tape, magnetic memory, optical memory, flash memory,or another computer-readable storage medium.

Suitable networks for configuration and/or use, as described herein,include any of a wide variety of network infrastructures. Specifically,a network may incorporate landlines, wireless communication, opticalconnections, various modulators, demodulators, small form-factorpluggable transceivers, routers, hubs, switches, and/or other networkingequipment. The network may include communications or networkingsoftware, such as software available from Novell, Microsoft, Artisoft,and other vendors, and may operate using UDP, TCP/IP, SPX, IPX, SONET,and other protocols over twisted pair, coaxial, or optical fiber cables;telephone lines; satellites; microwave relays; modulated AC power lines;physical media transfer; wireless radio links; and/or other datatransmission “wires.” The network may encompass smaller networks and/orbe connectable to other networks through a gateway or similar mechanism.

Aspects of certain embodiments of a citation system may be implementedas software modules or components. As used herein, a software module orcomponent may include any type of computer instruction orcomputer-executable code located within or on a computer-readablestorage medium. A software module may, for instance, comprise one ormore physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may beorganized as a routine, program, object, component, data structure,etc., that perform one or more tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. A particular software module may comprise disparateinstructions stored in different locations of a computer-readablestorage medium, which together implement the described functionality ofthe module. Indeed, a module may comprise a single instruction or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several computer-readablestorage media.

Some embodiments may be practiced in a distributed computing environmentwhere tasks are performed by a remote processing device linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, softwaremodules may be located in local and/or remote computer-readable storagemedia. In addition, data being tied or rendered together in a databaserecord may be resident in the same computer-readable storage medium, oracross several computer-readable storage media, and may be linkedtogether in fields of a record in a database across a network. Accordingto one embodiment, a database management system allows users to interactwith one or more databases and provides access to the data contained inthe databases.

In the following description, various aspects of the illustrativeimplementations will be described using terms commonly employed by thoseskilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that the disclosure may be practiced with only some of the describedaspects. For purposes of explanation, specific configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeimplementations. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the artthat the disclosure may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative implementations.

Various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations, inturn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the disclosure;however, the order of description should not be construed to imply thatthese operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, theseoperations need not be performed in the order of presentation.

Additional details and examples are provided with reference to thefigures below. The embodiments of the disclosure can be understood byreference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by likenumerals throughout. The components of the disclosed embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, could bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations.Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of thesystems and methods of the disclosure is not intended to limit the scopeof the disclosure, as claimed, but is merely representative of possibleembodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates a handheld photo enforcement unit 100, according toone embodiment. The handheld photo enforcement unit 100 may comprise animage sensor, a speed detector, and a human machine interface (HMI) 102.

The image sensor may capture an image or a video of one or morevehicles. For instance, an officer may use the handheld photoenforcement unit 100 to measure the speed of a vehicle. During theprocess, the image sensor may capture one or more images of the vehicle.The images may be discarded if a license plate is not visible. Ifmultiple images are captured, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100may detect the clearest image and use that image for processing acitation. In some embodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100may request that the officer select one of the images. In someembodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100 may select a framefrom a video for processing the citation.

The speed detector may capture and track the speed of a vehicle. In someembodiments, the speed detector may use radar, LIDAR, or other speeddetection systems. In some embodiments, the handheld photo enforcementunit 100 may also use a LIDAR system to measure a distance between carsto determine if a tailgating violation has occurred.

The HMI 102 may facilitate interaction between an officer and thehandheld photo enforcement unit 100. The HMI 102 may include one or moreinput/output interfaces that facilitate human machine interaction. Forexample, the HMI 102 may include a screen 104 and a set of physicalbuttons 106. The screen 104 may display a live view from the imagesensor and/or a previously captured image. An officer may depress one ofthe physical buttons 106 corresponding to image capture and the screen104 may display a freeze frame of the captured image.

Another physical button 106 may send the captured image to a citationsystem via, for example, a network interface. The handheld photoenforcement unit 100 may receive data associated with the image from thecitation system and display identification data on the screen 104. Theidentification data may include license plate state, license platenumber, vehicle make, vehicle model, and the vehicle's registered ownername. Additional information may be captured and displayed by thehandheld photo enforcement unit 100 including vehicle speed, GPScoordinates of the image capture, and distance between the handheldphoto enforcement unit 100 and the vehicle. In some embodiments, thescreen 104 may be a touchscreen and include virtual buttons 112. Inaddition, or in other embodiments, the physical buttons 106 may beprogrammable and the virtual buttons 112 may provide a description ofthe physical buttons 106.

The handheld photo enforcement unit 100 may also include a communicationinterface to relay captured image data and traffic event data. Forexample, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100 may use wirelesscommunication protocols such as Wi-Fi or LTE to transmit captured imagedata and traffic event data to a citation system.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method 200 for processing a citation using acitation system, according to a first embodiment. As shown, an officermay use a camera 202 in communication with a citation server 204 toidentify a driver and issue a citation. The camera 202 may be, forexample, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100 shown in FIG. 1 anddescribed above.

A communication interface between the camera 202 and the citation server204 may be direct or indirect. In certain embodiments, the camera 202 isin direct communication with the citation server 204, for example,through a wireless communication link such as a cellular communicationslink. In other embodiments, the camera 202 is provided with indirectcommunication with the citation server 204. For example, data may betransferred to/from the camera 202 through a laptop computer, mobilephone, memory card, etc. For instance, the camera 202 may capture theinformation, communicate with a laptop or a mobile phone via a Wi-Fi orBluetooth connection then the laptop or a mobile phone can transmit thedata to the citation server 204.

An officer may be deployed roadside and capture 206 an event with thecamera 202. The officer may review 208 the event on the camera 202 anddecide to proceed or reject the captured image. For example, the officermay decide to discard the image if it lacks sufficient clarity, or ifthe event did not constitute a violation. In some embodiments, thecamera 202 may capture a video or multiple images. In some embodiments,the camera 202 may analyze the images or video frames to determineclarity and automatically present the most clear image with a licenseplate to the officer. In some embodiments, the camera 202 may presentmultiple images to the officer and the officer may select the image thathe/she feels is the most clear.

If the officer elects to proceed with the citation process, the officerinitiates loading 210 of the event and image into a citation service. Inthe example embodiment shown in FIG. 2, indicated portions of thecitation service are performed by the camera 202. The citation servicemay perform actions to the event data to determine ownership and vehicleinformation of a vehicle in the image. The actions may include imageidentification, manipulation, and associating vehicle and ownership datawith the image.

For example, as shown, the citation service may auto crop 212 the imageof the event and use automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) oroptical character recognition (OCR) to identify a license plate number.The citation service may communicate 214 with a department of motorvehicles (DMV) database and collect/edit data for submission. Forexample, the citation service may send the license plate number to theDMV database and receive owner information associated with the licenseplate number.

If the citation service fails to identify the license plate number, theservice requests 216 officer manual review. The citation service maypresent the officer with a request 216 for manual review on the camera202 or an auxiliary PED such as a laptop or cell phone. The officerreviews the failed capture and decides a submission step. For example,the officer may manually enter the license plate number if the officercan discern the number. The manually entry of the license plate numbermay be performed on the camera 202 or an auxiliary PED. The citationservice may send this number to the DMV as described above. If theofficer cannot discern the number, the image is discarded.

The citation service sends vehicle and owner information associated withthe license plate number to the officer for approval. The citationservice may present the vehicle and owner information on the camera 202or an auxiliary PED. The officer does a final review 217 and decides toissue a citation or reject the event. The officer may enter his decisionon an HMI associated with the camera 202 or the auxiliary PED. If theofficer approves, the camera 202 or auxiliary PED forwards the eventdata to the citation server 204. The event data may include the image,speed, distance between cars, location of event, direction of travel,vehicle information, and owner information. The citation server 204loads 218 the event data and issues a citation. The citation server 204produces 220 citation documentation. The citation documentation mayinclude a citation and an evidence package. The evidence package mayinclude the image and ownership and vehicle information. The citationand evidence package may be forwarded to the violator. In someembodiments, the citation is forwarded to the violator and the evidencepackage is forwarded to a police database to store the evidence.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the officer review and/or inputsteps 208, 216, 217 are performed on the camera 202. In certainembodiments, at least one of the officer review and/or input steps 208,216, 217 are performed on a user interface of an external device, suchas a web browser of a laptop or mobile phone. For example, the officerreview 208 of the image capture may occur on the camera 202, while theofficer manual review 216 of the license plate and the final review 217may occur on a user interface of a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method 300 for issuing a citation using acitation system, according to a second embodiment. As shown, imageprocessing may be offloaded from a camera 302 to an automated webservice 303 before a citation server 304 issues a citation. The camera302 may include, for example, the handheld photo enforcement unit 100shown in FIG. 1 and described above.

A communication interface between the camera 302 and the automated webservice 303 may be direct or indirect. In certain embodiments, thecamera 302 is in direct communication with the automated web service303, for example, through a wireless communication link. In otherembodiments, the camera 302 is provided with indirect communication withthe automated web service 303. For example, data may be transferredto/from the camera 302 through a laptop computer, mobile phone, memorycard, etc. For instance, the camera 302 may capture the information,communicate with a laptop or a mobile phone via a Wi-Fi or Bluetoothconnection then the laptop or a mobile phone can transmit the data tothe citation server 304.

The automated web service 303 may be performed on a server remote fromthe camera 302. In some embodiments, the server may combine both theautomated web service 303 and the citation server 304. The automated webservice 303 may interface with the camera 302, the citation server 304,and an auxiliary PED. The automated web service 303 may send requestsfor additional information or for approval to the officer through theauxiliary PED or the camera 302.

An officer may be deployed roadside and capture 306 an event with thecamera 302. The officer may review 308 the event on the camera 302 anddecide to proceed or reject the captured image. For instance, if theofficer decides the image lacks sufficient clarity or if the event didnot constitute a violation, the image may be discarded. In someembodiments, the camera 302 may capture a video or multiple images. Insome embodiments, the camera 302 or the automated web service 303 mayanalyze the images or video frames to determine clarity andautomatically present the most clear image with a license plate to theofficer. In some embodiments, camera may present multiple images to theofficer and the officer may select the image that he/she feels is themost clear.

If the officer elects to proceed, the officer initiates loading 310 ofthe event into the automated web service 303. The automated web service303 may perform actions to the event data. This may include imageidentification, manipulation, and associating data with the image. Forexample, as shown, the automated web service 303 may auto crop 312 theimage of the event and use OCR to identify a license plate number. Theautomated web service 303 may communicate 314 with a DMV andcollect/edit data for submission. For example, the automated web service303 may send the license plate number to the DMV and receive ownerinformation associated with the license plate number.

If the automated web service 303 fails to identify the license platenumber, the automated web service 303 requests 316 officer manualreview. The officer reviews the failed capture and decides a submissionstep. For example, the officer may manually enter the license platenumber if the officer can discern the number. This number is sent to theDMV as described above. If the officer cannot discern the number, theimage is discarded.

The owner information associated with the license plate number is sentto the officer for approval. The officer does a final review 317 anddecides to issue a citation or reject the event. If the officerapproves, the citation server 304 loads 318 the event data and issues acitation. Citation documentation is produced 320 and forwarded to theviolator and/or a police database.

In certain embodiments, the officer review and input 308 is performed onthe camera 302, and one or both of the officer review and/or input steps316, 317 are performed on a user interface of an external device, suchas a web browser of a laptop or mobile phone. In other embodiments, eachof the officer review and/or input steps 308, 316, 317 are performedthrough the camera 302.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method 400 for issuing a citation using acitation system, according to a third embodiment. As shown, an officermay use a handheld photo enforcement unit 402 in communication with acitation server 404 to identify a driver and issue a citation. Thehandheld photo enforcement unit 402 may include, for example, thehandheld photo enforcement unit 100 shown in FIG. 1 and described above.

In certain embodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit 402 is indirect communication with the citation server 404, for example, througha wireless communication link. In other embodiments, the handheld photoenforcement unit 402 is provided with indirect communication with thecitation server 404. For example, data may be transferred to/from thehandheld photo enforcement unit 402 through a laptop computer, mobilephone, memory card, etc. For instance, the handheld photo enforcementunit 402 may capture the information, communicate with a laptop or amobile phone via a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection then the laptop or amobile phone can transmit the data to the citation server 404.

An officer may be deployed roadside and capture 406 an event with thehandheld photo enforcement unit 402. The officer may review 408 theevent on the camera or on an auxiliary PED and decide to proceed orreject the captured image. For instance, if the officer decides theimage lacks sufficient clarity or if the event did not constitute aviolation, the event may be discarded. In some embodiments, the handheldphoto enforcement unit 402 may determine to discard the image if theevent does not constitute a violation. In some embodiments, the handheldphoto enforcement unit 402 may capture a video or multiple images. Insome embodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit 402 may analyzethe images or video frames to determine clarity and automaticallypresent the most clear image with a license plate to the officer. Insome embodiments, the handheld photo enforcement unit 402 may presentmultiple images to the officer and the officer may select the image thathe/she feels is the most clear.

In certain embodiments, transmission 410 of event into serviceautomatically occurs following positive officer review. As shown in FIG.4, the service in this example embodiment is hosted by the citationserver 404. The service may manipulate an image of the event to obtain alicense plate number. For instance, the service may auto crop/identify412 a location of region of interest (ROI) around the license plate.When the auto crop 412 is successfully completed, using ROI image asinput, the service may translate 413 the license plate image into stateand characters with a confidence for ALPR. If the confidence is abovethreshold the service may continue.

If the auto crop 412 or the translate 413 steps fail, the officerreviews 416 the failed capture and decides a next submission step. Atthis time the officer can either manually adjust ROI for the licenseplate and/or enter in the license plate individual characters forresubmission to the DMV. For example, the officer may manually enter thelicense plate number if the officer can discern the number. This numberis sent to the DMV as described above. If the officer cannot discern thenumber, the image may be discarded.

The service may communicate 414 with a DMV and collect/edit data forsubmission back to the officer for review. For example, the service maysend the license plate number to the DMV and receive owner informationassociated with the license plate number. The owner informationassociated with the license plate number is sent to the officer forapproval.

The officer does a final review 417 and decides to issue a citation orreject the event. If the officer approves, the citation server 404 loads418 the event data, assembles evidence package, and issues a citation.The evidence package may include the image of the license plate number,the location of the event, an image of the driver, and a LIDAR reading.A citation may be produced and mailed to the violator.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the officer review and/or inputsteps 408, 416, 417 are performed on the handheld photo enforcement unit402. In certain embodiments, at least one of the officer review and/orinput steps 408, 416, 417 are performed on a user interface of anexternal device, such as a web browser of a laptop or mobile phone.

In certain embodiments, a citation system may use data from a handheldphoto enforcement unit to issue and forward a traffic citation in realtime. A citation system may include a network interface and one or moreprocessors. The network interface is for communication with a handheldphoto enforcement unit. The one or more processors may manipulate theimage and issue a citation based on the image. For example, theprocessor may auto crop an image around an ROI, the image being receivedfrom the handheld photo enforcement unit. The one or more processors maydetermine a license plate number using ALPR. The one or more processorsmay further issue, produce and forward a citation document to a trafficviolator and/or a police database.

In certain embodiments, approvals and information received from anofficer or another user may be provided for one or more of initialimage, violation information (e.g., speed), processed image, extractedor user entered/corrected license plate number, and vehicle/ownerinformation in real time, or very soon after the violation event, usingthe handheld photo enforcement unit. Thus, skilled users can makedecisions based on current and/or recent events before memories of theevent fade, which results in more accurate and reliable trafficviolation enforcement.

FIG. 5 Illustrates a block diagram of a citation system 500, accordingto one embodiment. The citation system 500 may generate a citationdocument and evidence package for a traffic event with limited officerinvolvement. The citation system 500 may include a handheld photoenforcement unit 502, an image processing server 504, and a citationserver 510.

The handheld photo enforcement unit 502 may include a camera to captureimage data from a traffic event. The handheld photo enforcement unit 502may also include a speed detection unit such as a LIDAR sensor tomeasure the speed of a vehicle. The handheld photo enforcement unit 502may also measure the distance between vehicles. In some embodiments, thehandheld photo enforcement unit 502 may include an HMI to receive inputfrom an officer indicating whether captured image data should beprocessed for a citation.

The handheld photo enforcement unit 502 may include a transmitter towirelessly transmit the captured image data and associated vehicle speedand distance between vehicles. The transmitter may transmit using Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, or a cellular network protocol.

The handheld photo enforcement unit 502 may be in communication with theimage processing server 504 through a first interface 512. The firstinterface 512 may be a direct interface as shown. In some embodiments,the handheld photo enforcement unit 502 may transmit the image data andthe traffic event data to a remote device. For example, the handheldphoto enforcement unit 502 may transmit the image data and the trafficevent data to the image processing server 504. In some embodiments, thehandheld photo enforcement unit 502 may transmit information to both aPED 506 and the image processing server 504.

In some embodiments, the first interface 512 may be an indirectinterface. For example, the handheld photo enforcement unit 502 maytransit the image data and the traffic event data to a local device thatrelays it to the Image processing server 504. For instance, the handheldphoto enforcement unit 502 may transmit the information to the PED 506that may transmit the information to a remote server such as the imageprocessing server 504. In some embodiments, the PED 506 may receiveinput from an officer indicating whether captured image data should beprocessed for a citation.

The image processing server 504 may comprise a receiver to receive awireless signal comprising the captured image data and associatedvehicle speed and distance between vehicles from the handheld photoenforcement unit 502. The image processing server 504 may furthercomprise a processing unit to extract the captured image data andassociated vehicle speed and distance between vehicles. The imageprocessing server 504 may determine a license plate number within thecaptured image data by cropping the image around a license plate andusing OCR and/or ADL.

The image processing server 504 may retrieve vehicle and ownerinformation associated with the license plate number from a DMV database508. For example, the image processing server 504 may transmit thelicense plate number and/or image to the DMV database and receive aresponse containing vehicle and owner information.

The image processing server 504 may also transmit a review request tothe PED 506 to obtain approval to issue a citation for the trafficevent. The approval may cause the image processing server 504 totransmit the image data, traffic event data, and the vehicle and ownerinformation to the citation server 510. The citation server 510 mayprepare a citation and an evidence package. The citation and evidencepackage may be sent to the vehicle owner and to a police database.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processing circuit of a handheld photoenforcement unit 650, according to one embodiment. The handheld photoenforcement unit 650 may include an electronic memory 610, one or moreprocessors 612, a network interface 617 an I/O interface 616, a camera622, and a speed detection unit 624.

The electronic memory 610 may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flashmemory, one or more flip-flops, or other electronic storage medium. Theelectronic memory 610 may include a plurality of modules 630 and data640.

The modules 630 may include all or portions of other elements of thedevice. The modules 630 may run multiple operations serially,concurrently or in parallel by or on the one or more processors 612.

In some embodiments, portions of the disclosed modules, components,and/or facilities are embodied as executable instructions embodied inhardware or in firmware, or stored on a non-transitory, machine-readablestorage medium. The instructions may comprise computer program codethat, when executed by a processor and/or computing device, cause acomputing system to implement certain processing steps, procedures,and/or operations, as disclosed herein. The modules, components, and/orfacilities disclosed herein may be implemented and/or embodied as adriver, a library, an interface, an API, FPGA configuration data,firmware (e.g., stored on an EEPROM), and/or the like. In someembodiments, portions of the modules, components, and/or facilitiesdisclosed herein are embodied as machine components, such as generaland/or application-specific devices, including, but not limited to:circuits, integrated circuits, processing components, interfacecomponents, hardware controller(s), storage controller(s), programmablehardware, FPGAs, ASICs, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the modules 630 may include a license plateidentifier 632 and an authorization module 636. The license plateidentifier 632 may identify the license plate by cropping the imagearound a license plate and using OCR and/or ADL to identify the numbers.In some embodiments, the license plate identifier 632 may be offloadedto an image processing server (e.g., an image processing server 750 ofFIG. 7). The authorization module 636 may present requests forauthorization to process the image and send information to a citationserver or an external PED using the network interface 617 or the I/Ointerface 616.

The data 640 stored on the electronic memory 610 may include the data640 generated by the handheld photo enforcement unit 650, such as by themodules 630 or other modules. The data 640 stored may be organized asone or more memory registers/addresses, files, and/or databases. Thedata 640 may include image data 642 and event data 644. The image data642 may include one or more images, or a video of a traffic event. Theevent data 644 may include the speed of a vehicle in the image, distancebetween vehicles, direction of travel, location, etc.

The I/O interface 616 and/or the network interface 617 may facilitateinterfacing with one or more input devices and/or one or more outputdevices including an image processing server, an auxiliary PED, or acitation server.

A system bus 618 may facilitate communication and/or interaction betweenthe other components of the processing circuitry, including theelectronic memory 610, the one or more processors 612, the networkinterface 617, the I/O interface 616, the speed detection unit 624, andthe camera 622.

The camera 622 may capture an image of a traffic event, and the speeddetection unit 624 may capture traffic event details such as speed,distance between cars, current location, direction of travel, etc. Ascan be appreciated, in other embodiments, the processing circuitry maybe simpler than shown or described. For example, certain designs mayforgo one or more components, such as memory, multiple processors,multiple interfaces, and the like, and instead execute instructionscloser to or on bare metal (e.g., without intervening operating systemor other software layer, executing instructions directly on logichardware).

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a processing circuit of an image processingserver 750, according to one embodiment. The image processing server 750may include an electronic memory 710, one or more processors 712, and anetwork interface 717 and an I/O interface 716.

The electronic memory 710 may include static RAM, dynamic RAM, flashmemory, one or more flip-flops, or another electronic storage medium.The electronic memory 710 may include a plurality of modules 730 anddata 740.

The modules 730 may include all or portions of other elements of thedevice. The modules 730 may run multiple operations serially,concurrently or in parallel by or on the one or more processors 712.

In some embodiments, portions of the disclosed modules, components,and/or facilities are embodied as executable instructions embodied inhardware or in firmware, or stored on a non-transitory, machine-readablestorage medium. The instructions may comprise computer program codethat, when executed by a processor and/or computing device, cause acomputing system to implement certain processing steps, procedures,and/or operations, as disclosed herein. The modules, components, and/orfacilities disclosed herein may be implemented and/or embodied as adriver, a library, an interface, an API, FPGA configuration data,firmware (e.g., stored on an EEPROM), and/or the like. In someembodiments, portions of the modules, components, and/or facilitiesdisclosed herein are embodied as machine components, such as generaland/or application-specific devices, including, but not limited to:circuits, integrated circuits, processing components, interfacecomponents, hardware controller(s), storage controller(s), programmablehardware, FPGAs, ASICs, and/or the like.

In some embodiments, the modules 730 may include a license plateidentifier 732 and an authorization module 736. The license plateidentifier 732 may identify the license plate by cropping the imagearound a license plate and using OCR and/or ADL to identify the numbers.In some embodiments, the license plate identifier 732 may be offloadedto an image processing server (e.g., the image processing server 750).The authorization module 736 may present requests for authorization toprocess the image using the I/O interface 716, or an external PEDconnected through the network interface 717.

The data 740 stored on the electronic memory 710 may include the data740 generated by a handheld photo enforcement unit or image processingserver 750, such as by the modules 730 or other modules. The data 740stored may be organized as one or more memory registers/addresses,files, and/or databases. The data 740 may include image data 742 andevent data 744. The image data 742 may include one or more images, or avideo of a traffic event. The event data 744 may include the speed of avehicle in the image, distance between vehicles, direction of travel,location, etc. Vehicle data 746 may include vehicle and ownerinformation associated with a vehicle in the image data from a DMVdatabase

The I/O interface 716 and/or the network interface 717 may facilitateinterfacing with one or more input devices and/or one or more outputdevices. For example, the image processing server 750 may interface witha handheld photo enforcement unit to receive image and event data, anauxiliary PED to receive officer approval or manual input, a DMVdatabase to retrieve vehicle and owner information, and a citationserver to have a citation/ticket and evidence package prepared.

A system bus 718 may facilitate communication and/or interaction betweenthe other components of the processing circuitry, including theelectronic memory 710, the one or more processors 712, the networkinterface 717, and the I/O interface 716.

As can be appreciated, in other embodiments, the processing circuitrymay be simpler than shown or described. For example, certain designs mayforgo one or more components, such as memory, multiple processors,multiple interfaces, and the like, and instead execute instructionscloser to or on bare metal (e.g., without intervening operating systemor other software layer, executing instructions directly on logichardware).

Embodiments may be provided as a computer program product including anon-transitory computer and/or machine-readable medium having storedthereon instructions that may be used to program a computer (or otherelectronic device) to perform processes described herein. For example, anon-transitory computer-readable medium may store instructions that,when executed by a processor of a computer system, cause the processorto perform certain methods disclosed herein. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, harddrives, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, ROMs, RAMs,EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices,or other types of media/machine-readable media suitable for storingelectronic and/or processor executable instructions.

Any methods disclosed herein include one or more steps or actions forperforming the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another. In other words, unless a specific orderof steps or actions is required for proper operation of the embodiment,the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified.

In some cases, well-known features, structures, or operations are notshown or described in detail. Furthermore, the described features,structures, or operations may be combined in any suitable manner in oneor more embodiments. It will also be readily understood that thecomponents of the embodiments as generally described and illustrated inthe figures herein could be arranged and designed in a wide variety ofdifferent configurations.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the above description ofembodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a singleembodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure, however, is notto be interpreted as reflecting an intention that any claim requiresmore features than those expressly recited in that claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in a combination offewer than all features of any single foregoing disclosed embodiment.Thus, the claims are hereby expressly incorporated into this DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment. This disclosure includes all permutations of the independentclaims with their dependent claims.

It will be understood by those having skill in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope ofthe present invention should, therefore, be determined only by thefollowing claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A handheld photo enforcement unit,comprising: a camera to capture image data from a traffic event; a speeddetector to determine a speed of a vehicle associated with the trafficevent; a communication interface of the handheld photo enforcement unitconfigured to communicate with a department of motor vehicles databaseand a citation server; and a processor to: receive authorization from auser to process the image data; identify a license plate in the imagedata; attempt to determine a license plate number from the image data,if the attempt succeeds store the license plate number, if the attemptfails present a request to the user to review the image data and inputthe license plate number; retrieve vehicle and owner information from adatabase based on the license plate number; receive an input from theuser to accept or reject the traffic event for issuing a citation usinga citation process based on the retrieved vehicle and owner information;in response from the user to accept the traffic event, initiate thecitation process to provide the citation server with the image data, thevehicle and owner information, the citation, and instructions togenerate a citation document and an evidence package; and in response tothe input from the user to reject the traffic event, discard the imagedata, the vehicle information, and the owner information from thecitation process.
 2. The handheld photo enforcement unit of claim 1,wherein to determine a license plate number, the processor usesautomatic license plate recognition.
 3. The handheld photo enforcementunit of claim 1, wherein to determine a license plate number, theprocessor uses optical character recognition.
 4. The handheld photoenforcement unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is further to processa distance between a first vehicle and a second vehicle received fromthe speed detection unit.
 5. The handheld photo enforcement unit ofclaim 1, further comprising a second communication interface between thecamera, the speed detector and the processor.
 6. The handheld photoenforcement unit of claim 5, wherein the processor is remote from thecamera and the speed detector.
 7. The handheld photo enforcement unit ofclaim 1, wherein the processor receives user authorizations from anauxiliary personal electronic device.
 8. The handheld photo enforcementunit of claim 1, further comprising an input device to receive userauthorizations.
 9. The handheld photo enforcement unit of claim 1,wherein the processor is further to crop the image data around a regionof interest including a license plate.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium that stores machine-readableinstructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a trafficenforcement system, cause the one or more processors to performoperations comprising: receive event data from a handheld photoenforcement unit, wherein the event data includes traffic violation dataand an image of at least a portion of a vehicle; determine a licenseplate number associated with the vehicle; present a request to a user ofthe handheld photo enforcement unit to review the image data if thelicense plate is unable to be determined; retrieve vehicle and ownerinformation associated with the license plate number from a departmentof motor vehicles database; present the event data, license platenumber, and vehicle and owner information on a client device to the userfor citation approval to accept or reject an event for issuing acitation using a citation process; in response to receiving inputrepresentative of acceptance from the user, provide a citation serverwith image data, the vehicle and owner information, and the trafficviolation data and instructions to generate a citation and an evidencepackage; and in response to receiving input representative of rejectionfrom the user, discard the event data, license plate number, and vehicleand owner information from the citation process.
 11. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the event datafrom the handheld photo enforcement unit is received from a wirelesssignal.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim10, the operations further comprise: present the event data to the user;and receive authorization from the user to process event data.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, theoperations further comprise: present the image to the user if thelicense plate number cannot be determined; and present a request thatthe user enter the license plate number manually.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the event datafurther includes distance between vehicles, location, and direction oftravel.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim10, wherein the event data is presented to the user on a personalelectronic device.
 16. A traffic enforcement system, comprising: ahandheld photo enforcement unit comprising: a camera to capture imagedata from a traffic event; a light imaging detection and ranging sensorto measure the speed of a vehicle and the distance between vehicles; ahuman machine interface to receive input from an a user indicatingwhether the captured image data should be processed for a citation; anda transmitter to wirelessly transmit the captured image data andassociated vehicle speed and distance between vehicles; a citationserver comprising: a receiver to receive a wireless signal comprisingthe captured image data and associated vehicle speed and distancebetween vehicles from the handheld photo enforcement unit; and aprocessor to: extract the captured image data and associated vehiclespeed and distance between vehicles; determine a license plate numberwithin the captured image data, wherein if the processor fails todetermine a license plate number the processor transmits a first reviewrequest to a personal electronic device to review the image data;retrieve vehicle and owner information associated with the license platenumber from a department of motor vehicles database; transmit a secondreview request to the personal electronic device to obtain approval toaccept or reject the event for issuing a citation for the traffic eventusing a citation process; and in response from the user to accept thetraffic event, initiate the citation process to prepare a citation andan evidence package if an approval is obtained; and in response to theinput from the user to reject the traffic event, discard the image data,the vehicle and owner information from the citation process.
 17. Thetraffic enforcement system of claim 16, where the processor of thecitation server is further to forward the citation and the evidencepackage to a traffic violator based on the vehicle and ownerinformation.
 18. The traffic enforcement system of claim 16, furthercomprising a personal electronic device to display review requests andreceive input from an user.